SimoneAL Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Hi all, still a long way to go before qualifying for the visa (if ever).But recently I have been not so sure whether it will be worth it4 things really scare me:- Start all over again. **** money, **** job, and much older (40+)- It costs soooooo much to get the visa, move downunder and settle dowm.- It seems sooooooo expensive to live there, what if we move and than we realise we just cannot affortd it?- What if one of us does not settle down?Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lebourvellec Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Win the lottery... I think most people have your fears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Thats the risk that most face. It depends on personal circumstances as to if it is a good gamble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I think it is the same for most, I can put your mind at rest reference, your age though. The majority of my friends were over 40 when they made the move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Migrating is a gamble and blooming hard work for a while, but for the majority taking that chance and upping sticks pays off, for some it doesnt.. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest74886 Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Hi I can only talk from my own experience, Iam now 65 and came out when I was 57, my wife is now 49 and was 41 when we got here.We got our visa on my wifes work as she claimed to be a office manager altho at the time she had a more senior job. I found getting work very difficult because my job as a Chartered Surveyor is not recognised here and I finally got some temp work doing work that I was doing 30 years before in the Uk, I had 3 other jobs none of which were management jobs like I had in the Uk and I fanally retired early 4 years ago as I ran up against such entrenched ageism and antipathy to my UK quals. My wife being younger has had 2 temp jobs as a consultant, one with a complete mad woman who used to walk round the office hitting people over the head with files, and then with a proper consultancy which still did not pay her as much as others because of predjudice against her quals which in the UK are an M PHIL and a diploma in Management and 5 years as a CEO of a trade organisation getting and distributing EEC funding to companies across W. London, she finally got a state managers job for a charity based in Sydney, again run by a woman who thought she was gods gift to the world and had her state managers constantly re jigging processes and strategic plans until they had 4 or 5 versions each year, needless to say staff turnover was horrendous and my wife got herself a job as a CEO of a hospital medical foundation which is where she is now, but she has encountered endless instances of sexism, both in behaviours and attitudes and it is only in the last year that her pay has risen to equal that of male CEO's in the same position. Why you might say am I whinging on about all of this, well just to highlight that the Australians are damned if they are going to recognise overseas qualifications and experience, we have found that they only want to recognise anything that is Australian. So I would just flag up that unless you are in a skilled area of work where your skills are in high demand then I would ensure that you are prepared to have to reprove yourself all over again and spend quite a time re-establishing yourself in your profession. The fact that they accept your quals as giving you a visa doesn't mean you will be accepted at the level you were in the UK, it is also beneficial to enquire what the rules for employment are in the particular state you want to settle in , here in Queensland you can get work as a plumber or painter on the strength of quals from the UK but if you want to go into business on your own and employ people you have to do a 2/3 yr Australian qualification before you can do that( that is what I was told by a Brit plumber who did work for me). Similarly at my wifes hospital a Brit heart surgeon went back to the UK because of all the objections there were to him wanting to modernise procedures and introduce proven advancements from the UK. So what I think I'm saying is be prepared for a fair amount of antipathy especially if you are that bit older and to factor in that acceptence of your qualifications for the visa is no guarantee that Australian employers will be so accepting, I do think that Sydney and Melbourne are more accepting of people from overseas but that the other states are still reluctant to accept people with higher levels of quals from overseas. My take on it is that younger people just starting out find it easier because they have time to spend getting established in the Oz workforce and starting to work their way up in it. Has it worked for us, on one level yes, we lived on the edges of Brisbane in a semi rural environement but only an hours drive from the city centre with birds, wildlife, including snakes and Blue tongued skinks all around us, and with our own pool and in a big house but we got here when the exchange rate favoured us and enough dollars as a result to be mortgage free; but on another it hasn't because we still do not have enough to retire on unless we go to a rural town with few facilities so that we can buy a cheap enough house to leave us with enough equity to supplement our superannuation, so we are making the decision to return to Europe partly because of the cost of living here, especially the cost of housing, but also because of a lack of friends. Just a word of warning keep a bank account open in the uk and enquire about keeping up your NI contributions in the UK so that your UK pension is protected it's only about 10 or 12 pounds a month,I think, I did and I now have full UK pension and the freedom to go anywhere in the EEC. Hope this is not too much of downer but I think if we had known these things before we came we would still have come but our decisions about where we located ourselves would have been different and we would have been more prepared for the job market. Look on Realestae.com for house prices and look on Coles website for an idea of food prices. Hope its all useful Regards:biglaugh: Russell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimoneAL Posted September 4, 2012 Author Share Posted September 4, 2012 it is a gamble indeed! :biggrin: A few days ago I had a chat with wife about migrating to Oz and she is not so convinced it will be a good option for us anymore I see where she is coming from, she has the future of the kids in mind. News from Oz talk about an expensive country, where unemployment is common among immigrants and locals, and where we would be far away from our families. Far too much uncertainty and risks for the kids, worth thinking long and hard challenging all assumptions before starting the ball rolling.... Thnx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scrumpy Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Better to regret something you have done, than something you havnt!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimoneAL Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 i agree, but I do not want to go anywhere without my family.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I think you have to ask why it is that you would want to move to Oz? Is it just some vague idea of a better life? What is it that you think Oz might be able to offer that you have not got now? That is the starting point, then weigh up the chances of obtaining them here against the risks involved. Oz does have things to offer, but there is a lot of things that people think it has to offer that arent real. For example, I am always dismayed when i read someone wants to come because it is better for their childrens future. But they dont have any real idea of why. This is what you need to establish before you start the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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